The NSW Government instrumentality Roads and Maritime
Services (RMS), formerly known as the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA), is planning to re-route a section of
the Pacific Highway in the Clarence Valley.
If the RMS proposal goes ahead there will be a severe impact on biodiversity.
The upgrade, from Glenugie to the Iluka
turnoff, will leave the old highway south of Grafton, pass through the Tucabia
area and re-join the current highway route near Tucabia. This new route passes through significant areas
of native vegetation which provides habitat for a variety of species, many of
which are threatened.
Of particular concern is the Coastal Emu, a population which
is listed as endangered in NSW. The
proposed route dissects the last significant habitat of this species. According to local ecologist Dr Greg Clancy there is another population at
Main Camp between Grafton and Casino
(north west of the highway upgrade route) but the species is now
apparently close to extinction in Bundjalung National Park, a coastal park
north of the Clarence River, and is extinct in Broadwater National Park further
to the north.
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| Male Emu with Chick Photo: K Cranney |
Dr Clancy is very pessimistic about the survival chances of
the remaining Clarence Valley emus. He
said, "The biology and ecology of the Coastal Emu is poorly known but it
appears to undergo annual movements from coastal sites to areas to the
west. The existing Pacific Highway
constitutes the western boundary of the population centred on Yuragir National
Park. The highway proposal is likely to
prevent this movement as it will create a barrier to Emu movement. It is most unlikely that the usual
underpasses constructed by the RTA (now the RMS) will be suitable for
Emus. Emus do not handle fences very
well and do not easily find exits from large paddocks and are therefore
unlikely to find the underpasses they
are supposed to use. It is most likely
that the Emus will enter culverts to access areas to the west of the highway
and therefore further isolation of an already declining population will occur."
Dr Clancy pointed out that changes to the route from Tyndale
to the Harwood Bridge (across the Clarence River) would also affect the Emus.
The proposed upgrade "originally
ran at the western edge of the Emu's habitat but following representations by the
Cane Growers of the area it has now been moved further east which will cause
the northern birds to be isolated from habitat to the west of the new highway
between Tyndale and Maclean if the highway is constructed there."
A large number of other threatened fauna as well as some flora
species will be adversely affected if the proposed route goes ahead.
NSW-listed
threatened fauna which will be adversely affected are:
Rufous Bettong, Powerful Owl, Yellow-bellied
Glider, Grey-crowned Babbler, Diamond Firetail, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Brown
Treecreeper and Squirrel Glider.
Federally-listed
flora and fauna likely to be adversely affected are:
Square-fruited Ironbark, Quassia sp. ‘Moonee
Creek’, Lindsaea incisa, Grevillea quadricauda, Spotted-tailed
Quoll, Koala, New Holland Mouse, Australasian Bittern, Bush Stone-curlew, Green
and Golden Bell Frog, Grey-headed Flying-fox, Eastern Osprey, Regent
Honeyeater, Glossy Ibis, Swift Parrot, Australian Painted Snipe, Latham’s
Snipe, Marsh Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Pacific Golden Plover, Magpie
Goose, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Cattle Egret, Eastern Great Egret,
White-throated Needletail, Fork-tailed Swift, Rainbow Bee-eater, Rufous
Fantail, Black-faced Monarch, Spectacled Monarch, Three-toed Snake-toothed
Skink.
Conservationists
believe that the only route that will reduce the impact on the ecosystems of
the area is the orange route which approximates the existing highway with a
small by-pass at Clarenza and another at Ulmarra. It was rejected by the RMS on
social and economic grounds.
